Rick Carlisle
Richard Preston Carlisle (pronounced KAHR-lye-uhl) (born October 27, 1959 in Ogdensburg, New York) is a former Basketball player and former coach of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. He is the head coach of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, replacing Avery Johnson. Playing career Carlisle was raised in Lisbon, New York. He graduated from Worcester Academy and played two years of College basketball at the University of Maine before transferring to the University of Virginia, where he co-captained the Cavaliers to the Final Four in 1984. After graduating that same year, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics (23rd pick in the third round), where he played alongside Larry Bird on the Celtics' 1986 NBA Championship team. With the Boston Celtics, he averaged 2.2 points, 1.0 assists and 0.8 rebounds per game in a limited reserve role. In 1987, Carlisle was sent to the New York Knicks. In 1989, Carlisle played in 5 games with the New Jersey Nets. Coaching career Later that year, he accepted an assistant coach position with the Nets, where he spent five seasons under Bill Fitch and Chuck Daly. In 1994, Carlisle joined the assistant coaching staff with the Portland Trail Blazers under coach P.J. Carlesimo, where he spent three seasons. In 1997, Rick Carlisle joined the Indiana Pacers organization as an assistant coach under his former teammate, Larry Bird. During his time as Pacers assistant coach, he helped the Pacers to two of their best seasons ever. First, in 1997-98, the Pacers stretched the Chicago Bulls to the limit, narrowly losing the deciding seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals to the eventual NBA champion. Then, in 1999-2000, the Pacers made the NBA Finals for the first time, ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird stepped down as coach, and pushed for Carlisle to be selected as his replacement, but Pacers team president Donnie Walsh gave the job to Isiah Thomas. Detroit Pistons For the 2001 season, Carlisle was recruited by the Detroit Pistons to be their new head coach. In two seasons as Pistons' head coach, Carlisle led them to consecutive 50-32 records (.610) and playoff appearances, and was named Coach of the Year in 2002. However, the Pistons fired Carlisle after the 2002-03 season with a year remaining on his contract and hired Larry Brown. Friction between Carlisle and team ownership was cited as one of the primary reasons for the firing. Ironically, Carlisle's Pistons had just dispatched Brown's 76ers in the conference semifinals. Indiana Pacers For the 2003-04 season, Carlisle was re-hired by the Indiana Pacers -- but this time, as its head coach (Isiah Thomas had been fired, almost immediately after Larry Bird was brought back as the new President of Basketball Operations). In his first season, Carlisle led the Pacers to the NBA's best regular-season record (61-21; 74.4%). In the playoffs, the team eliminated both the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, before losing to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2005, the Pacers roster was decimated by injuries (most notably, those of Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley), and suspensions (due to the November 19 brawl attributed to Ron Artest at the Palace of Auburn Hills). Carlisle was still able to rally the Pacers to the NBA Playoffs that season, though. As the sixth seed, they again defeated the Boston Celtics in the first round, before being defeated once again by the eventual Eastern Conference Champion, the Pistons. After the Pacers finished the 2006-07 season with a 35-47 record (missing the playoffs for the first time since 1997), Carlisle's tenure as head coach ended; it is unclear whether he voluntarily resigned, was fired, or was pushed to resign. In four seasons with the Indiana Pacers, Carlisle compiled a 181-147 record. On June 12, 2007, Carlisle announced that he would also resign from his position as Executive Vice-president of the Pacers. After leaving Indiana, Carlisle worked as a studio analyst for ESPN before signing with the Dallas Mavericks as its new head coach. Dallas Mavericks On May 9, 2008 Carlisle signed a four-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks, replacing Avery Johnson. Coaching record |- | align="left" |Detroit Pistons | align="left" |2001–02 |82||50||32||.610|| align="center" |1st in Central||10||4||6 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals |- | align="left" |DET | align="left" |2002–03 |82||50||32||.610|| align="center" |1st in Central||17||8||9 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" |2003–04 |82||61||21||.744|| align="center" |1st in Central||16||10||6 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" |2004–05 |82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Central||13||6||7 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" |2005–06 |82||41||41||.500|| align="center" |4th in Central||6||2||4 | align="center" |Lost in First Round |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" |2006–07 |82||35||47||.427|| align="center" |4th in Central||—||—||— | align="center" |Missed Playoffs |- | align="left" |Dallas Mavericks | align="left" |2008–09 |0||0||0||.000|| align="center" |—||—||—||— | align="center" |— |- | align="left" |'Career' | ||492||281||211||.571|| ||62||30||32 References External links *[http://www.nba.com/coachfile/rick_carlisle/ Rick Carlisle profile as a coach @ NBA.com] Category:Celtics players